What's J Say?
Advocate · Speaker · Trainer · Talent
Most people never think to ask a non-speaking person what he has to say. J built his life around the answer.
Justice changes how the world sees and treats non-speaking people — by training the professionals who serve them, speaking to the people who underestimate them, and showing up where they've rarely been seen: on stage, on screen, and on the page.
It all runs on two words: Presume Competence.
Justice "J" Killebrew has autism, is non-speaking, and communicates by typing. He's a keynote speaker, a professional trainer, a published poet, a model and actor, and the valedictorian of his graduating class.
None of that happened despite how he communicates. It happened because the people around him presumed he was capable long before anyone would put it on paper — and he's spent his life proving them right, out loud, in front of audiences.
J does a lot, on purpose. Whatever brought you here, there's a door for it.
Speak
Keynotes and talks for schools, conferences, conventions, and community events.
Book J to speak →Train
Lived-authority training for first responders, and for the speech-language pathologists and clinicians who work with people like J.
Request a training →Cast
A non-speaking model and actor who has autism, bringing representation to places it's rarely seen.
For casting & brands →Impact you can count
educators, families & community members reached
first responders trained
training sessions led
Black non-speaking actor who has autism to voice a Netflix character
- 100+ first responders trained — with Autism Interaction Solutions
- Keynote — The CAMA Conference
- Presenter — Statewide Self-Determination Conference
- Netflix — Ada Twist, Scientist (as Nasaan)
- Published — The Mighty · U. of Minnesota's Impact
- Mayor's Commendation, City of Glendale
- Valedictorian, Sky Mountain Charter — Class of 2024
- Member, National Society of High School Scholars
I've been squeezed tight to fit in your box. I'm busting out like chickenpox!
— from J's writing · Read his books →
Justice Killebrew is living proof that communication unlocks creativity, purpose, and contribution. As a musician, DJ, advocate, keynote speaker, author, and Netflix-featured creator, he continues to challenge expectations and inspire others to see possibility where others see barriers. The world is better because Justice chooses to share his voice.
Help J reach the next room
Every talk, training, and page is about one thing: changing how the world sees and treats non-speaking people. Your support helps J get into more schools, more departments, and in front of more families who need to hear it.
Support J’s missionWhat's J say? Book him and find out.
Book J to SpeakI'm Justice. People call me J.
I have autism, I'm non-speaking, and I communicate by typing. None of that means I'm not in the room. I'm fully here — I always have been. The only question is whether the people around me are ready to find out.
That's the whole idea behind What's J Say? It's a question most people never think to ask someone like me. I built my work around answering it — out loud, in front of audiences, on stage, and on screen.
I've been squeezed tight
to fit in your box.
I'm busting out like chickenpox!
Presume Competence
Two words. They're the principle I live by and the thing I teach.
The world's default is to look at a non-speaking person and assume nobody's home — to talk over us, talk slower, or talk to whoever's standing next to us instead. Presuming competence means starting from the opposite place: assume I understand, assume I have something worth saying, and give me the time and respect to say it.
I'm what happens when someone does.
The day they cracked my case
I found my voice when I was eight.
My mom was watching a documentary and heard a boy who moved like me and sounded like me — so much like me that she looked around the room for me before she remembered I wasn't home. The woman who had reached that boy was named Soma.
My mom tracked her down. A few months later, we were in a room in Austin, Texas, sitting across from a tiny woman with an enormous spirit. Twenty minutes after I met her, I could communicate. The first full sentence I gave my family was: "Thank you for cracking my case."
The day I met Soma — and a later visit, when I'd grown a head taller. Same voice, unlocked; just a bigger kid carrying it.
Once they saw what I could do, they ran to my school with the news. The school had me at a first-grade level, and we were sure this would change that. It didn't — they wouldn't recognize it, because it wasn't "scientifically proven." My parents said no problem, and started homeschooling me.
Others picked up where Soma started and kept it going. One of them, Darlene Hanson — who's spent decades helping people who communicate the way I do — made sure she was in the room the day I walked across the stage.
At his Sky Mountain Charter School graduation with Darlene Hanson, who continued the work Soma began.
Long story short: I graduated valedictorian of Sky Mountain Charter School — Class of 2024, in a class of more than a hundred.
I did it because the people around me believed in me — sure I was capable long before anyone would put it on paper. That's the principle, lived out. Now I'm ready to take on the world.
What I do
Everything I do comes from the same mission: change how the world sees and treats non-speaking people. I do it three ways.
I help train the professionals who serve us. I'm part of a team of people with special needs, hosted by Autism Interaction Solutions, that trains first responders — sheriffs, police, firefighters, EMS, and 911 operators. We teach them how to recognize and interact with people who communicate by typing, and people who communicate in other ways. In their world, presuming competence isn't just respectful; it's the difference between an encounter that goes right and one that goes wrong. I also work with speech-language pathologists — the clinicians who work with people like me — teaching from the one perspective most of their training leaves out: the inside.
I speak. Schools, conferences, agencies, conventions — wherever people are willing to rethink what they assumed about communication and capability. My signature talks are Presume Competence and What the World Gets Wrong.
I show up where people like me aren't seen. I model, I act, and I do voice work. Representation is advocacy you don't have to explain — when a non-speaking person who has autism is on a runway or on a screen, the point makes itself. I was the first Black non-speaking actor to appear on the Netflix series Ada Twist, Scientist (as Nasaan), and my credits also include The Art of Runway and an 811 PSA. I'm represented by Zuri Agency. I'm also a writer and a music producer — I write my own song lyrics and poems. It's the same message in another form.
In the studio — J writes and produces his own music.
What I believe
- Competence is the starting point, not the reward. Presume it first, then watch what happens.
- Not speaking is not the same as not having something to say.
- Communication is a right — not a privilege you earn by being easy to understand.
- Access changes everything. Give a person the right tools, then get out of the way.
I was always saying something. Back then I typed it in a voice that wasn’t quite mine. Now it comes out as Darius. Same mind. Same me. The world just got better at hearing it.
Want to see what that looks like? Watch J address California’s SB 882 Advisory Council →
Why it matters
I'm not doing this just for me. There's a kid out there right now being talked over, underestimated, written off. Every room I walk into, every officer I train, every set I'm on — it's so the world is a little more ready for them than it was for me. Presume competence. Then watch what happens.
One mission. Three ways in.
Justice changes how the world sees and treats non-speaking people — by training the professionals who serve them, speaking to the people who underestimate them, and showing up where they've rarely been seen: on stage, on screen, and on the page. Whatever brought you here, start with the door that fits.
Speak
J delivers keynotes and talks built on one principle — Presume Competence — from the rare vantage point of someone who lives it. Audiences leave rethinking what they assumed about communication, capability, and who belongs in the room.
Signature talks: Presume Competence and What the World Gets Wrong.
Book J to speakTrain
Training delivered by lived authority, not theory. For first responders — sheriffs, police, fire, EMS, and 911 — recognizing and respecting people who communicate by typing. And for SLPs & clinicians, taught from the perspective most training leaves out: the inside.
Request a trainingCast
Representation is advocacy you don't have to explain. J models and acts — a non-speaking performer who has autism, in spaces people like him are almost never seen. The point makes itself.
Selected credits: Ada Twist, Scientist · The Art of Runway · 811 PSA. Represented by Zuri Agency.
For casting & brandsReach the right inbox
Use the contact form and pick Speaking, Training, or Casting — your choice routes the message to the right place, so nothing gets lost.
Go to contactWhat's J say? Book him and find out.
J is a non-speaking advocate, speaker, trainer, and talent who has autism and communicates by typing. He keynotes from a vantage point almost no stage ever offers — the inside of an experience most audiences only assume they understand.
Book J to Speak
Presume Competence.
The world's reflex is to look at a non-speaking person and assume no one's home — to talk over them, talk slower, or talk to whoever's standing nearby instead. J's talks take that reflex apart in real time, because the person taking it apart is doing it from the podium.
The message and the messenger are the same proof. That's what no panel or PowerPoint can replicate.
How a talk with J works
J types on his iPad. A communication partner holds the device in position so J can put all his focus on what he's saying — not on managing the hardware. His words then come out in his voice: Darius.
Darius is an AAC voice J helped develop, built to sound like the man behind the words — a Black man in his twenties. That's deliberate, and it's part of the message. The right voice keeps every ear where it belongs.
By the end, the audience hasn't just heard J's message about presuming competence. They've experienced it.
Signature talks
Presume Competence
The principle J lives by, delivered from the inside. Audiences leave with a working definition they can use the next morning — and the honest realization of how often they've assumed the opposite.
What the World Gets Wrong
What people assume about non-speaking people — and what changes the moment those assumptions break.
More topics J speaks on
Beyond the signature talks, J tailors sessions for schools, agencies, clinicians, and conferences. A few of the topics he covers:
Where J has spoken
- The CAMA Conference (Communication Always Matters Always) — keynote speaker
- Statewide Self-Determination Conference — Person-Centered Plan presenter
- Southlake Middle School — guest speaker, Beyond Awareness Celebration
- Angel-Lena, Inc.'s Q&A with J — Irvine, CA
Justice Killebrew is living proof that communication unlocks creativity, purpose, and contribution. As a musician, DJ, advocate, keynote speaker, author, and Netflix-featured creator, he continues to challenge expectations and inspire others to see possibility where others see barriers. The world is better because Justice chooses to share his voice.
Formats
J's talks run tight by design — typed delivery makes every word deliberate, so nothing is filler.
- Keynote — 10–15 minutes.
- Breakout or workshop — up to 15 minutes.
- Q&A — J takes questions submitted in advance, so every one gets a real answer.
- Virtual / livestream — available.
J travels up to 50 miles for in-person events (negotiable beyond that), and is available virtually anywhere.
Book J to speak
Tell us your event, your date, and your audience, and we'll come back with a fit.
Book J to SpeakTraining that's lived, not theorized.
Most training about non-speaking people is built by people who aren't. J's isn't. He teaches from the one place a textbook can't reach — the inside of the experience — and the principle underneath all of it is the one he lives: presume competence.
For sheriffs, police, firefighters, EMS, and 911 operators.
J with a Santa Monica PD training cohort.
J is part of a team of people who have special needs, hosted by Autism Interaction Solutions, that trains first responders to recognize and interact with people who communicate by typing — and people who communicate in other ways.
In the field, presuming competence isn't just respectful. It's the difference between an encounter that goes right and one that goes wrong.
What the training builds
- The ability to recognize when someone communicates by typing, with a letter board, or in another way — and not read it as noncompliance, intoxication, or a threat.
- The instinct to address the person directly, give them time to respond, and keep them with their device or communication partner instead of separating them from it.
- De-escalation grounded in real scenarios — taught alongside the people who actually live them.
Where & how often: A monthly session runs on a Tuesday at the LA County Sheriff's Department in City of Industry, and the team trains other agencies too — including Santa Monica PD. To date, J has helped lead around 15 sessions and trained more than 100 first responders across departments.
J (in the "It's J Day!" shirt) and Kate Movius of Autism Interaction Solutions with a training cohort.
[First-responder testimonial — from an officer, trainer, or training coordinator. Coming.]
[Quote from Kate Movius on J's role in the training. Coming.]
— Kate Movius, Autism Interaction Solutions
Request first-responder training
This program is hosted by Autism Interaction Solutions. To bring it to your agency, reach AIS directly:
Kate Movius — Autism Interaction Solutions
katemovius@autisminteractionsolutions.com · (323) 252-0036
Or start through the contact form — choose "Training" — and we'll connect you.
For speech-language pathologists and the clinicians who work with people like J.
This is the perspective most clinical training leaves out: the inside.
J teaches, from his own experience, what actually helps and what only looks like it. What's genuinely useful, what's quietly condescending, and what presuming competence looks like in day-to-day practice. Clinicians leave able to do their work with the people they serve — not just for them.
Continuing education: [ASHA CEU credit is being explored — we'll list it here only once it's confirmed.]
Request clinician trainingBring J's training to your team
Tell us who you're training, roughly how many, and your timeframe — we'll come back with a fit.
Request a TrainingRepresentation is advocacy you don't have to explain.
J models and acts — bringing a non-speaking performer who has autism into spaces people like him are almost never seen. When he's on a runway or on a screen, the point makes itself.
For casting & brands
- Netflix — Ada Twist, Scientist — as Nasaan; the first Black non-speaking actor on the series, and the voice actor behind the animated character.
- The Art of Runway — runway / modeling.
- 811 PSA — public-service campaign.
- The Miracle Project — wrote songs and created a music video.
- Voice work — J's AAC voice, Darius, and on-camera voice roles.
Digital comp card
The quick-reference card casting directors expect — headshot, a few looks, and stats.
Stats
- Height — [ ]
- Suit / jacket — [ ]
- Shirt / neck — [ ]
- Waist · inseam — [ ]
- Shoe — [ ]
- Hair · eyes — [ ]
- Age range — [ ]
[ Add a downloadable comp-card PDF and an acting / voice reel link. ]
For casting & brands
Casting and brand inquiries go straight to representation:
Los Angeles Office
2121 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 800
Los Angeles, CA 90067
310.606.2744 · Fax 310.606.2748
Or reach the team at angellenainc@gmail.com — select Casting on the contact form.
His words, in print.
J writes the way he speaks: by typing. The brand's whole name comes from his first book — and his poems are the clearest window into the mind so many people assumed wasn't there.
I've been squeezed tight
to fit in your box.
I'm busting out like chickenpox!
— from J's writing
What's J Say? — A Collection of Poems
Poems pulled straight from his inner world — identity, family, faith, love, and the daily work of being seen. Tender one moment, sharp the next, and never what the world assumes a non-speaking writer "should" sound like.
- Author: Justice Reign Killebrew (with Jay Chuppe)
- Published: 2022 · ISBN 9798836631680
- Formats: paperback and Kindle
Leaders Around Me — contributing author
J is one of 45 contributors to Leaders Around Me, an anthology of autobiographies by non-speaking people who communicate by typing, pointing, and spelling, edited by Edlyn Vallejo Peña (2019). His chapter sits beside others making the case his whole life makes: presume competence, and listen.
- Edited by: Edlyn Vallejo Peña · Published: 2019 · ISBN 9781791505950
Read his work, free
"My Name is Justice" — J's poem and essay, published in The Mighty and reprinted in the University of Minnesota's Impact journal. A strong first taste of his voice, at no cost.
Read "My Name is Justice"Recognition: National PTA Reflections — [advanced to the state level for his poetry; confirm exact wording].
Bring J's words to your audience
Want J for a reading or an author talk? He takes the poems from the page to the stage.
Book J to SpeakPress & media
Justice "J" Killebrew is a non-speaking advocate, speaker, professional trainer, model, actor, and voice actor who has autism and communicates by typing. His work runs on one principle — Presume Competence — and he carries it onto stages, into training rooms, and onto the page and screen.
Organizations J has worked with
- The Mighty — J's poem and personal essay, "My Name is Justice," written as his protest after the killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
- Impact — Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota (Vol. 33, No. 1, Fall 2020) — "My Name is Justice" in the journal's feature issue on self-advocacy.
- WXXI (public radio) — a feature connecting J's self-advocacy to the broader fight for racial equity.
- Netflix — Ada Twist, Scientist — J appeared as Nasaan, the first Black non-speaking actor on the series.
"My Name is Justice," as published in the University of Minnesota's Impact journal.
J before California's SB 882 Advisory Council
Justice gave public comment to California's SB 882 Advisory Council (December 10, 2025) — a state council working to improve how law enforcement interacts with people who have intellectual and developmental conditions and mental health conditions. It's the same work he does training first responders, carried to the state-policy level.
Justice speaks to California's SB 882 Advisory Council.
J in action
On set, on stage, and in the community.
On set — Netflix’s Ada Twist, Scientist
On stage
In the community — Angel-Lena, Inc.
Milestones
Honors & recognition
- Mayor's Commendation, City of Glendale — presented by Mayor Ardashes "Ardy" Kassakhian on December 1, 2022, recognizing J's history-making turn as the first Black non-speaking actor who has autism to voice an animated character on Netflix's Ada Twist, Scientist.
- Valedictorian, Sky Mountain Charter School — Class of 2024.
- National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS) — member.
Press kit
Everything a writer or producer needs in one place.
- Press bio & one-liner — short, third-person, ready to paste. (See the Press Fact Sheet.)
- Approved photos — headshots and event images, high-resolution. [Add download link.]
- Logos — the What's J Say? mark and, for talent inquiries, Zuri Agency. [Add download link.]
- Fact sheet — name, location, roles, signature talks, key credits. Built.
Writing about J — a note for media
The language is part of the message, so a few requests:
- J has autism — please use person-first wording, never the adjective form.
- He is non-speaking and communicates by typing using AAC. Please use those terms.
- Frame J as the professional and advocate he is — not as someone to be pitied, nor congratulated simply for participating.
Presuming competence starts with the words. Thank you for getting them right.
Media contact
For interviews, appearances, and assets:
Online: Facebook & Instagram @whatsjsaynow · Talent & casting: Zuri Agency
Wear the question.
"What's J say?" is the question this whole brand is built on — and the one most people never think to ask. Put it on, and you start the conversation everywhere you go.
Shop the line[ Point the button to your store — Shopify, Etsy, or a print-on-demand link. ]
"What's J Say?" tee
The wordmark, front and center.
[ price ]
"It's J Day!" tee
The bright yellow tee with J on the front.
[ confirm it's sellable · price ]
“Straight Outta IEP” tee
The one J wears himself.
[ price ]
Every purchase gives back
J donates part of the proceeds from the line to causes that serve the community. Buying a shirt is advocacy you can wear — and support you can feel good about.
Proceeds go to Angel-Lena, Inc. to help families with special needs.
Good to know
- Shipping & fulfillment: [ who fulfills, turnaround, where you ship ]
- Returns / exchanges: [ policy ]
Start the conversation
Shop the lineLet's talk.
Tell us what you need and it gets to the right person — fast. Booking a talk, requesting a training, casting J, or something else: start here.
[ This is a styled placeholder form. Drop Alisha's GoHighLevel form embed here so submissions flow into the CRM — and the dropdown tags each request by lane. ]
Prefer to reach out directly?
Speaking, training & general
angellenainc@gmail.com
818-835-0847
Casting & brands
Zuri Agency — Los Angeles Office
2121 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 800, Los Angeles, CA 90067
310.606.2744 · Fax 310.606.2748
(Backup: angellenainc@gmail.com)
Stay in the loop
New talks, new releases, and where J's showing up next — straight to your inbox, no spam.
[ Wire to your email list (GoHighLevel / Mailchimp). ]
Follow J — Facebook & Instagram @whatsjsaynow
Based in Los Angeles, California. Travels up to 50 miles for in-person events (negotiable beyond that); virtual available anywhere.
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